


Peace in Imprisonment

by CheerfullyCynical



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Tragedy, But very tension filled, Episode AU: s12e10 The Timeless Children, Hopeless!Doctor, Like you kind of want to punch him, Other, Post-Episode: s12e10 The Timeless Children, Seriously the Master is a villain in this one, The Doctor is the Master's prisoner, but also he's still so huggable, dark!master, i think, not sexual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:48:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25979242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CheerfullyCynical/pseuds/CheerfullyCynical
Summary: The Master has something more planned for the Doctor before enacting his Cybermaster plan.As the Master's prisoner, the Doctor finds peace.
Relationships: The Doctor & The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor & The Master (Dhawan), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	Peace in Imprisonment

The Doctor woke up to handcuffs around her wrists.

Honestly, she wasn’t exactly surprised by it. She gave it one solid pull, eyes still closed, and was again not surprised to find herself chained to something. She’s gotten out of worse things. This was going to be easy – she’d get herself out in no time.

It was just… She couldn’t quite remember how she ended up here in the first place.

She remembered Jack’s warning… She remembered her fam, worried… She remembered the lone Cyberman… She remembered losing, ignoring Jack’s advice… She remembered the last humans, their small burst of hope… She remembered…

“A little slow there, love?”

_The Master._

The Doctor – her – the Timeless Child. She experienced grief, loss, heartache, anger, guilt… Nothing compared to the confusing mass of hurt that sat in her chest – roaring and loud and too much to take. She felt tears come to her eyes, fruitless to try and stop them, and instead was hopeless as she stared at someone she considered to be her friend.

Now, all that was left were the eyes of an enemy.

“We’re on your TARDIS,” She said, thinking of him more as _The Master_ than her childhood hero, “Why?”

“ _Ooh,”_ He taunted, practically dancing, “There’s _the Doctor._ What is it they call you…? Oh, yes! _The Oncoming Storm._ Tell me, how many armies turned and ran because of that stare?”

She said nothing – she knew he was mocking her, showing her how powerless she was in his grip. It was almost comical; the way he was standing – leaning – over her, basking in his win, eyes sharp and dangerous as knives. He was practically glowing.

He chuckled as she looked away, too disgusted to see the face of a friend so captivated with darkness. She wondered when he had lost himself so thoroughly towards it – when the darkness had turned only towards hatred for her.

“ _Ah,”_ He said, sniffing the air, racing around his TARDIS’s console like a child, “Where to go, what to _do_? Only seconds before my plan for the Cybermasters. Well, not seconds, I suppose. We have all an eternity between the two of us.”

“A celebratory lap before the end of the world,” She said, toneless, channeling her last life’s sarcasm, “Original.”

“Original,” He echoed, his voice ringing in his TARDIS, “Originality spurred by inimitability. Yes… I do think, for once, you are correct.”

He laughed again, high and shrill, and her nose scrunched at the noise. It was grating on her ears, stupid and pointless – a shrewd reminder that she was a prisoner to a mad man. She felt helpless as she gave a tug on her handcuffs, her wrists complaining at her experiment.

She wondered what timeline was better – a twisted loop through memory lane with the Master, or the end of the world by the Master’s hand?

To provoke him enough into accelerating his world dominating, or suffer through his madness to wish for an escape attempt?

“Where are we going?” She asked him, unwilling to deal with her ultimation.

“ _Meddlesome_ ,” He sang, “If I’ve learned anything throughout our centuries of fun… It’s to not give you a chance to use that brain of yours. You see, Doctor, I tire of losing to your hopefulness. No, I desire something else from you.”

She bit her tongue. Her words were here defense – her greatest weapon. After the war, the countless times she had seen children die from those who wished only political gain, she refused any physical weapon. She had promised and vowed as the Doctor, time and time again, to never become that solider ever again.

The Doctor’s words had never been enough for the Master.

“Nothing to say?” The Master asked, “Come _on!_ Don’t go quiet on me now. Give me a speech of goodwill, for old times’ sake!”

Tears were lodged behind her eyes – her throat felt overwhelmingly tight.

He had fallen long before she had asked him to stand with her.

They had arrived at his destination. He hummed, head rolling, then made his way to her. She saw his shoes, perfect and expensive, and then, suddenly, a soft hand under her chin, guiding her to his eyes.

“A tragedy,” He whispered to her, suddenly kind, “That I have broken the Timeless Child so well.”

She wished she had enough pride left to be angry – to be _anything_ other than what she was now. The Master knew which buttons to push on her to bend her to his will, to make her feel so unsure of herself that she got lost in it. He was the only person in the world that understood her.

Now, he was using that to destroy her.

“Come on then.” He said, using her own sonic screwdriver to release the handcuffs around the middle, leaving only two cuffs around her wrists. She hadn’t recognized their design at first, too busy in her own mind, but it was clear to see that it was one of the Shadow Proclamation’s cuffs.

No hope of getting them off – not without her sonic. And, even if she did have her sonic, she wasn’t sure how long she would have before the receiver in the cuffs alerted him to her escape.

The Master had finally thought of everything. Funny, that it took his true desire to destroy her.

He grabbed her by the upper arm, pulling her to her feet. He was shockingly gentle as he did so, as if they were about to take an evening stroll. Even when she was standing, he looped their arms together, dragging her along.

She didn’t resist – she had yet to find a reason to. If she kept him thinking that he had the upper hand, there was a small chance of escape. Small, but there nevertheless.

“I’ve started somewhere simple.” He explained, opening the doors of his TARDIS with a simple push. The smell of a familiar ocean hit her nose first, the breath of thirty-first century hot on her tongue. To the right of her revealed the shores of Ko Sharmus, where the boundary connected to Gallifrey once stood.

“Look here,” The Master said, “Tell me, what do you see?”

She wondered what the end game of this was – why he had even bothered. There was nothing left here except bad memories.

“Wowza,” The Master said after her resolute silence, “If re-designing our people and taking over a sliver of the universe was all I needed to get you to shut up, I would have done so sooner.”

“That rage,” She said, finding her voice, “Finally stopped?”

The arm around her went taunt with tension. He thought some part of him wanted her to give him a fight, but she knew a larger one wanted to have something simple to control.

“You’re missing your lesson, dear,” He whispered dangerously in her ear, fingers digging into her shoulders as he leaned behind her, “Answer my question.”

She looked around at the still smoldering battlefield, recognizing Ko Sharmus’s defenses. There had been a victory for her humans here. Was that the Master’s point? That they wouldn’t win again?

“I won’t play your games.” She told him, “Do what you will with me – take my memories, my life – but you won’t take away what _you_ are.”

“Tell me what I am,” He begged, eyes wide, “Go on. I’d like to hear you say it.”

She hated that he had twisted her words. She hated that he made it about him – no, made it about _her_ opinions on him, as if everything he was now revolved around her.

She tried to picture him as a child – tried to see the smile of someone she loved, of the boy who had run in the field with. She could feel their two hands intertwined, warm and comforting, and could almost feel the sand beneath her feet.

She looked at him and saw none of that.

“I see a murderer.”

“Oh, love,” He smiled, all teeth, “I’m more than that. Come on, don’t be afraid of it now. _Say it.”_

She knew what he wanted. She wouldn’t give it to him. Her lips formed a line, teeth scrapping together as she drew blood on her lip. It did nothing to stop her horror at the way he smiled at her.

“A monster,” He said, almost proud, “Don’t look so put out. Nothing in your puny, little volt could have changed that.”

_Missy._

She hadn’t allowed herself to think of Missy since the day she had died. The anger, the grief, would be all consuming. It was almost a blessing that she had regenerated – Missy betrayal would have shattered her hearts.

“Yes.” She admitted, the bodies of dead Cyberman in front of her, “A monster.”

He moved along, pulling her towards Ko Sharmus’s tent. Inside, more bodies of Cyberman laid at her feet. She wondered how the humans, with barely any weapons, had done it. She knew her fam had some part of it.

“A shame.” The Master tittered, kicking a stray helmet aside.

She flinched, and he was quick to notice.

“Oh, grow up,” He growled, “You’ve murdered your own army of these things. Just because your precious human bodies were in there-”

“And now they’re gone,” The Doctor said, “And we show them respect. Those humans had families, lives-”

He laughed, “How quaint. You believe them more valuable in death, then?”

“No,” She said, horrified by his thinking, “I believe that every living being deserves the basic respect of a funeral. I believe-”

“Have you paid every Cyberman you killed a funeral? A better question: do you count the ones your pets kill for you?”

She flinched violently this time, and he allowed her to pull away from him. She felt revolted by his very thinking. “They didn’t-”

“No?” The Master asked, picking up the very helmet he had kicked, admiring it, “Let me guess, these Cybermen collapsed on their own? They’re just taking a nap?”

“Don’t patronize me!” She shouted, furious with him – glad to be furious rather than numb, “What are you trying to prove? No more mind games! _Tell me!_ ”

Unexpectedly, he took a step closer to her, nearly nose to nose, the helmet dropping with a clang. He looked classically calm in the face of her rage, “I love this _you,”_ He told, “So full of emotion, willing to show it off. When I push _just_ the right way, you react. It’s…Magnificent… Beautiful.”

She was almost heaving. Her breathes were loud on the silent planet, “Why did you bring me here?”

“I told you,” He said, still daring to be in her face, “A lesson.”

“That you’re a monster?” She asked.

“No,” He said, eyes dark, “That you’re one.”

It was finally time for her to laugh. He pulled back, surprised at her reaction. He had not expected her to know that truth. She had stared into so many eyes of monsters that it became clear to her that she was one as well.

“You leave death and destruction in the guise of heroism,” He said, spreading his arms around the carnage around them, “You leave the bodies of your enemies lying in the open. You have your pets kill them for you. You think we’re different-”

“I never said different.” She told him, “You are the only person in this universe even remotely like me.”

His face twitched. She had shaken him.

“I am a monster.” She told him, “I’ve killed, I’ve made others kill for me… I’ve done things that would make normal men weep. And, maybe, as the T-Timeless Child, I’ve done even more…”

“The only difference between us, Master, is that I’ve tried to repent.”

His eyes studied her closely. Seconds passed like years as he searched for something that she knew he wouldn’t find in her. And, when he didn’t find it, he smiled at her.

“You were close with Missy,” He admitted, as if his admission didn’t shatter her very soul, “She died for you.”

“Don’t lie,” She scuffed, hoping he was, “I’m already your prisoner. I won’t gain anything from half-truths.”

“Missy died thinking the Doctor would finally save her,” The Master answered, “Instead, she was left bleeding by, well, me. Dead by my own hand, alone.”

“No,” The Doctor denied. Her hearts couldn’t take it, “You- she left me – She -”

“Was going to come back. I tried to show you.” _That hidden knife. She was an idiot._ “Tragic, once again. So close to the friend you always wanted. Alas, my younger self just couldn’t see a timeline that involved us standing with you.”

She had already been horrified today. Still, it clawed at her again like a vicious beast – it took everything with it, “I didn’t know.” She whispered. The tears she had held back were running down her face, “Master, I didn’t _know.”_

“I know,” He agreed, uncaring, “What do you think sprouted my need to visit Gallifrey? I wanted to see _you_ one last time.”

She wanted to hold him in her arms. She wanted him to take the pain from her chest and toss it into an exploding star – she wanted everything to _stop._

“I’m sorry,” She said, meaning it no matter how much he didn’t want it, “I’m so sorry.”

He was upon her in another second – a hand pushed into her chest, sending her to the ground. Her head bounced against the leg of a Cyberman, and she found that the stars in her vision were nothing compared to the one burning on top of her.

“You don’t get to apologize.” He told her, his hands holding her wrists down, even when she didn’t try to fight, “You failed me, Doctor. There is no apology that is enough.”

“O.” The Doctor asked, “You created O to hurt me – _this_ me.”

“Perhaps.” He answered, but she could tell that she was at least half right. He moved from her wrists. Instead, his hand found the side of her face. His thumb rubbed against her cheek, stroking away the tear stain that was no doubt there.

The kindness hurt more than anything he could do to her.

“Make it stop,” She pleaded, “You’re right. I’m a monster. Lock me up, throw away the key, leave me stranded somewhere... _Please. I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore._ ”

“Beg me again.”

She had nothing left – his voice was a siren call.

“Please,” She said, watching as he closed his eyes. “ _Master.”_

When his hands pulled away from her face, she found herself reaching for him, desperate to have any form of comfort. He shushed her gently, caringly, being exactly what she needed to get what he wanted. He offered his hand to her, covered in dust ( _ash),_ and yet she took it easily.

With an arm around her back, she found herself being guided back to his TARDIS. She said nothing as he led her to a bedroom, and the idea of sleep had her nearly collapsing.

_The Doctor was so tired._

He tutted in mock pity as she stumbled, her ankle giving out due to an injury she had sustained after tripping over a piece of her home. He let her sit, and she said nothing as his lingered too long on her face. He took off her coat with graceful hands, the cuffs adjusting around her wrists, tossing it on the ground with the little care. Only hours ago, it would have bothered her.

“Get some rest,” He said, still kind, “ _Big_ day tomorrow.”

The tip of her sonic screwdriver was sticking out of his coat pocket. One distraction, a couple of words, and she would have her escape plan.

She looked away. She didn’t want freedom.

The door closed behind him, the locks clicking together in a series she would need days to decipher to open. He had planned this.

The Doctor laid her head down on the pillow and feel asleep.

Her nightmares were quiet – there was no one else she could hurt as the Master’s prisoner than herself.

**Author's Note:**

> I watched Hannibal over the weekend. I wanted to write the Master as a manipulative villain, so THIS happened. I think he's still very...Lovable here, and that's something I really wanted to explore. Also wanted to try out more dialogue. It's always been a weakness of mine. 
> 
> If you want to talk about Doctor Who, need someone to rant to during these trying times, or just need a new blog to follow, I'm over on tumblr at CheerfullyCynicalFandom.tumblr.com


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